The Importance of Exercise for your Dog
Do you know how essential exercise is in your daily life? It has the ability to affect your whole lifestyle. Our bodies need regular activity in order to remain in balance. Doing exercise daily can help achieve the best and healthy lifestyle one can have. This is also the case with our pets, especially dogs. Daily exercise is just as important for your pet dog as it is for us humans.
Dogs are full of energy, and this energy needs to go somewhere, or else your pet dog may face health issues, including behavioral problems. Regular exercise is the best solution for that. It does not matter what age, breed, or size your dog belongs to; they all deserve regular exercise in their lives for the sake of their health.
Ways exercise can benefit your dog:
Prevention From Premature Aging
As an animal starts to age, its lean muscle mass starts decreasing. Regular exercise can help in maintaining lean muscle strength and integrity.
Prevent Obesity and Improve Metabolism
Regular activity will improve and maintain metabolism, which will lower the risk of obesity. Exercising with your dog on a daily basis can be beneficial in maintaining their body metabolism at a neutral level. Physical activity is one of the natural adaptation mechanisms where your dog’s body learns to adapt to physical work first by upgrading the nutrient absorption by cells.
Maintain Bones Strong
Physical stimulation can activate specialized cells in your dog's body that help improve bone mass so that they become adaptive to work. Exercise promotes growth in skeletal muscle mass that will go with the bone and will maintain healthy bone density in your dog.
Keeping Your Dog’s Joints Active
Just like a correct weight can help your dog remain in a fit shape, regular exercise can also help ease any pain happening in your dog's joints. So, if your dog gets regular exercise according to its age, its joints will be more likely to stay lubricated and may have less problems as the get older..
Improving Your Dog’s Mental Health
Daily exercise is very beneficial to your dog's mental health. It allows interaction with the outside world, other dogs and humans. Dogs, like people, produce endorphins after exercise, which gives them a natural high and makes them happy. Dogs that interact with the outside world are less likely to indulge in self-destructive behaviors like chewing on your shoes and furniture or weeping.
Mental vs. Physical Stimulation for Your Dog
Dogs need exercise to keep their muscles, bones, and joints healthy, as well as to keep their primary organs running smoothly.
Most dogs require 30 minutes to 2 hours of exercise daily, it is dependent on the breed of your dog, and also its age and health.
For dogs who suffer from anxiety, depression, loneness, etc, outdoor activities help to relieve them mentally, while allowing them to be physically playful and interactive.
Dogs can also gain stimulation from training, like Ivan Pavlov’s Dog Experiment. In this experiment, Pavlov displayed how classical conditioning works through stimulation.
You can keep your dog mentally and physically stimulated through new challenges with both indoor and outdoor activities. Using your dog’s sense of smell to help them find hidden treats inside toys or in objects is a great game for both inside and outside. These games also help to build your dog’s IQ.
Other ways to help with mental and physical stimulation are outdoor activities like: walks, fetch and play, tug of war, etc.
How Can You Exercise With Your Dog
Exercise can be fun for both you and your dog, here are some ways to work out with your dog:
- Walk and Dance
You can walk with your pet dog, to help you both balance your heart rate, blood pressure level, and metabolism. If you are not an enthusiast of walking, you can try dancing with your pet. There are no set rules to do that, of course.
- Jogging
If your dog belongs to the breed most suited for distance running (English Setter, Labrador Retriever, Golden Retriever, Boxer, or most Shepherd breeds), you should also try jogging with your dog for 30 minutes a day.
- Fetch and Play
Fetch and play is a great and very interactive game for both owner and dog. This game can be played with balls, ropes and flying discs.
- Tug of War
Many dog owners enjoy playing tug of war with their dogs. A good game of tug and war requires a long, thick and strong rope toy for your dog. This is an amazing way to help with strengthening its joints and muscles.
- Hide and Seek
Playing hide and seek with your dog helps to workout their brain and body. Helps to build instincts and reinforces training for your dogs.
At Fetch ‘n Play, we believe that all dogs need exercise whether indoors or outdoors, which is why we carry the best toys for both play. Check out our amazing selection of dog toys for all your needs.